Report - Gypsies Tent Dudley 2008

[What a find]

I see there have been a few posts of this lovely old pub. My pictures are probably not of the best quality but I feel people would be keen to see them. My pics are from around 2008 before the place got trashed (permitted visit). I can probably answer a few questions if anybody is interested. I have a lot more pics of the place if anyone is interested in these.


Bar after a bit of a tidy

The "Club Room"

Bottle capping machine and old barrels in the cellar.

Going down

The barrel chute

"That" fridge and cupboard as you have never seen them before

Lounge

The office

 

[Speed]

Jesus thats unbelievable! We thought it almost unbelievable when we visited it this year!

Do you know any of the story behind it? How it came to still be like this in 2008 and what became of it after? Was it cleared officially or did it just fall victim of dereliction and of all that entails?

 

[What a find]

The late Millard brothers who ran the pub until it closed were in fact my great uncles. The pub had been under threat of a compulsory purchase order for about 20 years and when they were told that to retain their licence they would have to invest a considerable sum to bring the establishment up to standard, Dudley Council refused to make a decision and so the brothers decided to shut the doors and retire.

The brothers stayed living in the building until their passing, as you can tell neglecting to do any maintenance. The bar was basically left untouched for all those years as I guess there was no need to change anything, there is a lot of room in that building for two elderly men to live. After my great uncle, Don Millard passed away in 2007 the pub was left to my immediate family. We do not live locally and we spent a year or so commuting and sorting through any sentimental and interesting items that were there, van load at a time. I personally spent a lot of time tidying the rooms out of respect and taking photographs to preserve memories. Many of the fixtures and fittings such as the bar, doors, skirting boards etc.. we donated to the Black country Museum, they were offered the whole building but it was unfortunately too large for them to take on. A lot of the vandalism was down to pikeys who wanted scrap metal, there were regular break-ins during our ownership. The pub was sold to a local man in 2010.